Tales of Evil
by mercmanlet
Summary: Set in the Zelda universe, the Black Knight from Minish Cap returns and wreaks havoc upon a weakened alliance of kingdoms and tribes, only to succumb to numerous counterattacks - who will survive by the end of it all? Two sides, one victory, many battles.
1. Prologue

**Tales of Evil**

Prologue

Ganon's army was a feared force in all of Hyrule and it's surrounding kingdoms. The pinnacles of success were not the mighty moblin spear walls, the voracious packs of wolfos or the necromantic stalfos warriors, but the armoured titans: skilled darknuts, bloodthirsty iron knuckles and weakened, yet powerful phantoms taken after the death of Bellum. The ranks of the darknut were most varied, with elite castes like the mighties and reds. There was, however, a being created for the pure purpose of fear, with ebony armour like the umbra, a blade forged in the darkness of an eclipse, and a nocturnal appetite for death and torture. The Black Knight.


	2. Chapter 1

**Tales of Evil**

Chapter 1: A New Kind Of Evil

The war between the Hylian Alliance and Ganon's Army was more destructive than any of the previous wars, skirmishes were daily and few hylians had not suffered family loss. A series of victories from the Allies had weakened Ganon's force, pushing the vast army to the west, yet another battle was imminent.

It was the coldest part of the Hyrule winter, and the darkest, a massed force was sent with Orcus Aru, a Labrynnan military mastermind, to assault the enemy army. Ganon's army outnumbered the Alliance by 11 to 9, yet lacked the bravery or skill in most of its troops. Hylian Knights and Knights of Lake Hylia formed a vanguard, with Terminan crossbowmen at the rear.

The battle was to take place atop the now frozen Lake Hylia, with conflict expected on the ice, the surrounding field and on Hylia Bridge. It would start at midday, in a blizzard and with a long way to any routing point.

As the two armies stood gazing at each other, cold steel soon to meet chilled flesh, a moblin war horn rung out into the silence, and a symphony of battle cries erupted, bringing fiery temper to the icy surroundings. Arrows and bolts flew gracefully into the masses, with little accuracy needed to find a target. Swords clashed, lances broke and shields felt the pressure of attack.

On the bridge above, Hylian Knights ripped into bulblins and their steeds, a pair of mounted knuckles cut through five knights before being felled themselves. Friendly fire caused confusion between the bulblins and bokoblin archers, giving the hylians an edge and letting paladins take advantage of the situation. One such paladin was shield bashed off his steed by a lynel and plunged into the crowded lake, crushing a lizalfos captain and a miniblin.

Another horn sounded, and aeralfos with javelins and bombs soared into the sky, raining hell down onto the lighter militia on the right flank, before being obliterated by crossbowmen from the bridge. Casualties on Both sides were rising by the second, with swordfights between mighty darknuts and iron knuckles with the Knights of Lake Hylia continuing. The blizzard had turned into a storm, and with the twilight of dusk seeping in, purple clouds set to form a fog behind Ganon's Lines. Out of the fog emerged thirteen mounted mighty darknuts in black armour. One, however, wore a unique helm, and headed the charge, all kinds of monster parted as the riders joined a troop of stalfos and moblins, dismounted and let chaos reign.

The battle of the bridge was almost one sided, with the knights slaughtering ten times their amount of monsters. The knights had occupied four fifths of the bridge, and their victory would be a decisive blow for the Alliance. Ganon's generals activated a nasty shock to the prevailing forces though, and sent a squadron of aeralfos to support ammunition for a giant catapult. Halberdiers and macemen frantically hacked away at the bokoblins and wizzrobes aiming at the bridge, with little avail.

The catapult fired, and two giant boulders flew at the helpless bridge, a mighty crash as the middle, and the end the knights were attacking from, were destroyed. Both horse and rider were sent tumbling through the air, into the ranks, and helplessly screaming as they fell to their deaths. The bridge itself was above the monsters, and annihilated a large portion of the chilfos and dinalfos.

The Black Knight decapitated, impaled and dismembered labrynnan and holodrum men-at-arms, carving a path for him and his Black Guard to reach the conflict between lake knights and mighty darknuts, General Aru finished off a darknut with only a helm and tattered cape left, using a rapier and ordon broadsword combo, then lunged at the Knight. "Prepare to rot like the rest of your kind, damn you to the abyss, beast!" screamed the ivory and cobalt armoured axeman, his left gauntlet and pauldron missing, letting his hand feel the chill of the harsh winter wind.

"You're just another kill for me, Meat, this ice will run red with your foul blood!" hissed a low voice from behind the black helmet. Aru swung violently at the Knight, each attack being blocked or parried, damaging his armour so much that the chainmail hauberk underneath was clearly visible. The Knight thrust his sword, glancing off Aru's shield, and rebounding into his exposed neck, spouting crimson liquid onto nearby lake knights.

The blue lake knights had slain many a darknut, knuckle or moblin, yet the Black Knight's reinforcement group bled them of all their life. Lightning tore the skies apart, as wizards and wizzrobes let spells loose in colourful displays, incinerating spearmen, freezing lizalfos, shocking horses and exploding miniblins. The Hylians has lost all of their advantages, the bridge and the heavy infantry, all Alliance troops started routing, aside from Terminan Macemen and Hylian Champions, who banded together to buy the weaker units more time.

The champions were focused on killing the armoured soldiers, as they were the greatest threat, while the macemen killed off monsters and the occasional darknut.

About thirty men partook in the last stand, yet they killed 24 enemies – a sacrifice in vain, but buying some men valuable seconds to escape. The Black Knight, under Ganon's fierce control, would return for more bloodshed.


	3. Chapter 2

**Tales of Evil**

Chapter 2: Canyons and Chains

The battle of Lake Hylia had switched odds; the Hylian Alliance had suffered a near-fatal blow, with five in six men captured or dead. The army had to reassemble in Hyrule Castle Town, so prepared for an assault it was at Citadel status, villagers from the surrounding area who didn't leave their homes were left to fend for themselves. Kakariko was one of these, awaiting reinforcement ranchers and foresters from Ordona and Faron, with a small militia consisting of mostly old men and newly orphaned boys, with little exception. Gorons from Death Mountain came to aid the desperate town, normally staying in the hot spring, with an elder supervising the warriors.

At sundown, the town was swept under a silvery fog. Strange noises were heard; townsfolk arming themselves in case of a miniblin scavenge. The noises were then accompanied by hoofsteps, meaning the creatures were much more threatening: bulblin raiders. Militia grabbed javelins and spears, prepared to volley the monsters from the rooftops. Seven mighty bullbos stampeded into the main square to find themselves skewered by the townsfolk's attack. The bulblins on foot engaged in melee with the villagers, being defeated while only killing two boys.

The Kakarikan militia cheered too early, however, as the watchtower plummeted till it got stuck between the gorge. The stronger men readied themselves with spears and slowly walked up the cliff and surrounded the tower top, a hole in the roof allowing them to crowd the top floor. The jailer lit a lamp, revealing the savaged remains of four watchmen. The lamp blew out a second later, and when relit, a pitch black darknut was the last thing the men saw.

The boys and gorons outside the tower were quickly startled as the militiamen flew out of the tower's roof, the fog and dust clearing to reveal the Black Knight. Goron warriors rolled at him, being repelled by the flat of the sword and off of the cliff. Twenty four youths with clubs and shortspears remained, they formed a spear wall, not stopping the advancing Knight, all hope seemed lost until a zweihander crashed into the rerebrace on the darknut's arm.

The guards from the other watchtower had witnessed the events in the other one; they abandoned their post and had set off to help the local youths. The watch captain lunged at the Black Knight, hitting his upper arm and distracting him from attacking the militia boys. A quick uppercut from the Knight's greatsword ripped the captain's upper body in two, then the Knight advanced on the remaining men as bodkin arrows glanced off his plate.

The southern province reinforcements were not purely hylian, ritos and subrosians had joined to counter aerial foes and lighter enemies. The path up the canyon was filled with dead bulblins and hylians, making it impossible to pass. The rito mercenaries grabbed subrosians in lamellar robes and dropped them in a circle around the Knight. The strange little warriors started spinning, then stopped and tangled ball and chains all over the Knight. The Darknut struggled, throwing some subrosians, but as more got dropped, he could do nothing to escape. Trapped – a prisoner to the hated Hylians – what would he do?


	4. Chapter 3

**Tales of Evil**

Chapter 3: Dungeons and Darknuts

The Black Knight woke, chained in subrosian steel. Four hylian knights guarded the door to his cell, wearing silver armour with green surcoats – the mark of a palace knight. A tall, thin man in padded cloth paced into his cell, "eat this, the interrogators will arrive soon, not that you deserve them to," he hissed, "You dark knights aren't much without all that thick armour are you? Nothing more than big jackals with swirly tattoos, heh…" Stroking his platted beard, he turned to his cart, pulling something from beneath the sheet of cloth.

The man slammed a wooden bowl onto the table by the knight, holding up a pot of olive green liquid that stank of fish and eggs. "Reekfish bile, black chu jelly and miniblin ear stew, enjoy, dark knight."

"It's dark_nut…_" groaned the Knight, having to pull the table towards him to reach the stew. The feeder froze for a second; letting out a squeak, then scurried out, leaving the door for the knights to handle.

An hour later, voices could be heard from the corridor. Someone in brown general's armour with a charcoal trim barged past the guards and into the Knight's cell, sitting down in one of the chairs, followed by another general in full blue armour, and a red symbol on his visor, indicating he was a Knight of Lake Hylia. The brown general thrust a white helmet adorned with three rows of curved blue spines onto an armour stand by the wall.

"Recognise that?" Grunted the general, "It's a good friend of mine's, we used to hunt deer in Labrynna, I believe you killed him." The Knight looked up, recognising the helm, and smiled. "Find it funny do you?! Ranton, throw the water on him!" yelled the general, Ranton gushed a bucket of icy water over the Knight, then a bucket of boiling water, the darknut screamed. "You see, the difference in temperature makes the heat extreme, beast. General Hrevas, shall I do more?" Ranton inquired, with an insane pleasure in his voice.

Before Hrevas could answer, a palace knight rushed in screaming "Monsters at the wall! Monsters at the wall!" A moblin spear flew from the door, impaling the knight.

"Your lot, I believe?" snarled Hrevas, getting up and arming himself with a labrys, forming up with the knights as four Mighty Darknuts charged at the six hylians. The palace knights were ripped apart, as they had been relaxing unarmoured for the last half hour. Hrevas crushed a helmet and the skull inside with his first blow, the three darknuts left deflected his axe and pinned him down, one unchaining the Black Knight and giving him his armour back.

The Black Knight brandished his greatsword, stepped over the bodies and bowed to the general. The darknuts released him and gave his axe back. Hrevas bowed also, then lunged at his foe, to be cut down in a few vertical slices, the Knight stood over him as he gasped for breath. "That's for taking my trophy," he gestured towards Aru's helmet on the stand, kneeled down and took off Hrevas' helmet.

The Knight walked around the jail, freeing prisoners and killing jailers. He then walked along the battlements, watching as the moblins were slain by palace knights.

Wizzrobes had summoned an elevator of sorts, allowing the 'important' soldiers – Darknuts and Knuckles – down. The Red Wizzard was among these mages, himself one of five elite soldiers, he, the Black Knight, the Emerald Moblin, the Gold Skull and the Amber Scale were given massive power by Ganon.

With one glance back at the castle, the Knight rode through the town, mowing down any in his way, and regrouped with Moblins and Bulblins on Bullbos. Heading into the fields, they encountered palace knights, hylian knights and indigo knights – an elite stationed normally in the Castle Town on ceremonial duty. The hyruleans were behind the dark group, with Knights from other towns and provinces doing a head on charge into the boars.

The Knight was in a rare situation – he was outnumbered with only fourteen units – himself, three mighty darknuts, four normal darknuts, three bullbos with a moblin and bulblin each on them, one bullbo with just bulblins on it, an armoured lynel and a chariot with the Red Wizzard, two high wizzrobes and a normal wizzrobe. The tactic was to split the force, with four darknuts and two bullbos per side, the side without the Knight had the lynel, with the chariot in the middle shooting spells.

The battle on Hyrule field went well – for the Hylians. Horse archers shot down the bullbos, and the remaining enemies were felled by knights, the black knight killed three, before retreating to the chariot and allowing the Wizzard onto his horse as bomb arrows shattered the magic chariot. The Knight went for three miles till he lost the horse archers, the only reason for that being that eight went after him and the Wizzard spent ten minutes concocting a ten-target fire spell, incinerating the ranchers and their steeds. The Gerudo Desert was not far, yet the pair of elites could not shake off their alertness, like something was watching them…


End file.
